Voters approved the lottery in 2008 to raise money for college scholarships, with the first tickets being sold in 2009.

Woosley, who had been the lottery’s chief legal counsel, says his primary goal is to improve lottery ticket sales — particularly in draw games such as Powerball and Mega Millions, rather than scratch-off tickets. He said he also wants to find new ways to promote the games through social media such as Facebook and Twitter.

Woosley said he will look at ways the lottery can save money and cut expenses, particularly with the claims centers the lottery has set up around the state for winners to cash in their prizes.

The lottery’s interim director in December told the lottery commission the games were on track to raise $89 million for scholarships this fiscal year, which is roughly $5 million less than was raised the previous year.

He will take over for Ernie Passailaigue who resigned in September after criticism over his management of the games and his $324,000 annual salary. Woosley will be paid $165,000 annually.

“I’m going to be very involved from a personal standpoint with my directors,” Woosley said. “My directors are going to report directly to me in the short term. I’ve advised (the commission) that if I ever need that COO position, I’ll come back to them. For now, it’s going to be me and my directors and staff.”

State law sets the lottery director’s maximum salary at $141,603, but the director can be paid up to $354,000 if approved by a legislative committee. The Lottery Commission last week capped the director’s salary at $175,000 in response to the criticism over Passailaigue’s pay.

“I think it shortens the learning curve considerably since he’s been there really since the inception,” said Key, R-Mountain Home. “It should be a smooth transition.”

Woosley said part of the reason for not hiring new vice presidents was the criticism the lottery received over the pay he and his two deputies received. The lottery’s two vice presidents were paid about $225,000 a year.

“Obviously that goes into it, but one of the things I’m interested in is being deeply involved with every division and learning,” he said. “We have a great staff and great directors who are very knowledgeable and I can learn from them just as much as they can learn from me.”